Needle threader



y 1949- J. N. JAMO 2,476,872

NEEDLE THREADER Filed June 25, 1945 gvvt w/rvfm Jozm N. Jim.

Patented July 19, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE NEEDLE THREADER John N. Jamo, Grand Rapids, Mich. Application June 25, 1945, Serial No. 601,506

1 Claim. 1

The present inventionrelates; to needle threaders and more particularly to a device for threading the needles of sewing machines;

Formerly, needle threaders' have been made with tiny hooks which, when inserted through the eye of a needle, were adapted to engage a thread and draw the same back, through the needles eye. In practice, the delicate, tiny hooks were frequently broken ofi thus. rendering the devices useless. These former devices were. further objectionable in that the hooks werenecessarily positioned opposite the eye of the needle by sight, and the use of such a device was therefore only slightly better than threading the needle by hand.

The primary objects of the present invention are to provide a needle threader having a plunger which pushes the thread through the eye of a needle thus dispensing with the frangible hooks used in former devices of this type; to provide such a device having mechanical means for positioning the plunger opposite the eye of the needle thus reducing eyestrain and time lost in positioning the device by eye; and to provide such a device which is simple in construction, economical in manufacture, and attractive in appearance.

These objects are attained by the illustrative embodiment of the invention shown in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of parts of a sewing machine with my needle threading device applied thereto;

Figure 2 is an enlarged longitudinal central vertical sectional view thereof;

Figure 3 is a right hand end elevational view of the same;

Figure 4 is a sectional view of the same taken on line 44 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a sectional view similar to Figure 4 and showing the plunger of the device in an advanced position;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 6-6 of Figure 2;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 7-1 of Figure 2; and

Figure 8 is a greatly enlarged sectional View of certain parts shown in Figure 2.

Referring now in detail to these drawings wherein like parts are designated by the same numerals in the several views, the needle threader there shown comprises an elongated body member generally designated I!) having a pair of vertically extending, forwardly projecting spaced tongues l I, I2 which are so shaped as to form a central vertical needle seat l3 therebetween.

As shown in Figure 1, the body member IB- is adapted to be applied to a sewing machine l4- here shown fragmentarily and provided with a reciprocating needle clamp 15 in which a needle [6 is secured by means of a set screw I7, and the needle l 6 is thus seated in the needle seat l3 of the body member [0.

A cylindrical plunger I8 is slidably disposed in a slide bearing l9 extending forwardly-rearwardly in the horizontal portion of the body member I9 and centrally therein. The plunger l8 has a way 20 keyed to a pin 21 in the bottom of the body member it and the plunger is thus prevented from rotation in the slide bearing IS. A spring 22 interposed between the body member In and a head 23 on the rearward end of the plunger it normally urges the plunger rearwardly, and, both this rearward movement and forward movement of the plunger are limited by engagement of the pin 2| with the respective rearward and forward ends of the way 29.

The forward end portion or stem 24 of the cylindrical plunger i8 is reduced to a diameter such that it will readily pass through the eye 25 of the needle 16, and the forward portion 26 of the slide bearing [9 is correspondingly reduced to serve as a guide for the reduced stem 24 of the plunger.

The lower end portions 21, 28 respectively of the tongues I l, l2 on the body member [0 project forwardly and downwardly and serve as guides for the insertion of a thread 29 in a transverse thread seat 30 in the body member, and the thread when thus positioned is in alignment with a transverse groove 3! (see Figure 8) in the forward and of the stem 24 of the plunger, which groove M is adapted to engage the thread 29 when the plunger is moved forwardly.

Means are provided for mechanically positioning the eye 25 of the needle IS in alignment with the plunger stem 24 and the thread 29, which means comprise an upwardly extending horn 32 on the forward end of the body member I 0. The horn 32 is of such length that the distance from the top thereof to the path of the plunger is exactly equal to the distance from the bottom of the needle clamp I 5 to the eye 25 of the needle l6, and the top of the horn 32 thus serves as a stop for mechanically positioning the needle threader with the plunger stem 22 and thread 29 in alignment with the eye of the needle. The plunger may then be moved manually forwardly to its position shown in Figure 5, thus forcing the stem 24 and thread 29 through the eye 25 of 3 the needle. The thread may then be grasped by the operator and pulled the desired distance through the needles eye.

It is pointed out that the distance from the needle clamp 15 to the eye 25 of the needle [6 is the same in all machines of the same manufacture although the distance from the eye 25 to the point of the needle varies. The same needle threader may therefore be used with all machines of the same manufacture, and the threader may be made in different types for the difierent makes of sewing machine by simply varying the length of the horn 32.

The threader is here shown as a device sepaber It) in such a manner that the device can be pivotally or otherwise mounted on the machine. V

of the invention as the same is defined by the following claim.

I claim:

A needle threader for use with a needle having an eye near the point and a needle clamp for the other end of the needle, said threader comprising a body member having a horizontal body portion and a vertically extending horn at the forward end thereof, a plunger disposed in a horizontal bore in the horizontal body portion, a vertical needle seat in the horn and the body portion and extending from the upper end of the horn to the forward end of said bore, said body member having a thread seat at the forward end of the bore extending rearwardly of the needle seat and having downwardly flaring thread guides disposed at the lower end of the horn for directing a thread into the thread seat, the upper end of said horn being spaced from the path of the plunger a distance equal to the distance from the clamp to the needles eye so that contact of the upper end of the horn with the needle clamp automatically positions the seated "needle'with the eye thereof in the path of said plunger.

JOHN N. JAMO.

REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces areof recordin the file of this patent: v V

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

